Eunice Dwumfour, the New Jersey councilwoman found shot to death outside her home earlier this month in a puzzling case that has yielded no arrests, will be remembered at a funeral service scheduled for this week.
The service will be held at Bethany Baptist Church in Newark on Saturday, March 4, according to an obituary post. Visitation will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m., with funeral services expected to start at 10:30 a.m.
Dwumfour, a Republican who won an upset victory for her council seat in Sayreville in 2021, will then be interred at Hollywood Memorial Park in Union.
It's been nearly four weeks since the Sayreville councilwoman was shot and killed killed outside her home the night of Feb. 1. She was found with multiple bullet wounds by officers responding to a 911 call around 7:30 p.m. about shots fired on Samuel Circle and Sayreville. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
There has been no clear motive or suspect identified in the investigation thus far, despite Dwumfour's killing catching national attention and the FBI. Local authorities have pleaded with the community to come forward with any potential evidence.
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Surveillance video exclusively obtained by NBC New York shows what may have been the shooter running in the back of a housing development, past a dumpster. Police were said to be looking into whether the man seen on the video was the shooter.
Law enforcement sources say 14 shots were fired, and some neighbors say they saw security camera footage showing Dwumfour talking to a man standing outside her vehicle just prior to the shooting.
The gunman escaped between two buildings and into the woods, according to police. There was no immediate speculation on his identity or whether multiple people may have been involved in Dwumfour's killing. (Obtenga los detalles en español aquí.)
Detectives have previously gone through a dumpster steps from the shooting and canvassed the area downhill, where the SUV rolled afterward and crashed into parked cars. They've used bloodhounds as they have combed over the area multiple times during their investigation.
Gov. Phil Murphy has called Dwumfour's death a "shocking development," saying state police would assist local and county officials with their investigation. He said he couldn't recall the last time a gunman killed an elected official in the state.
A rising star for local Republicans and an IT professional by trade, Dwumfour recently finished her first term on the council. Sayreville Mayor Victoria Kilpatrick praised her for her faith.
"Beyond her dedication to our community, I can share that she was a woman of deep faith and worked hard to integrate her strong Christian beliefs into her daily life as a person and a community leader," Sayreville Mayor Victoria Kilpatrick said.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Dwumfour was also the director of churches for an international ministry, Champions Royal Assembly. Dwumfour, whose parents were from Ghana, was a pastor at an African Christian church in Newark.
Dwumfour got married last summer — to a man named Eze Kings, a congregant of the church — and was the mother of an 11-year-old girl. Those who spoke to NBC New York said they knew very little about her husband, other than he has spent most of his time in his homeland of Nigeria since the wedding, helping build a church there.
In a Facebook post, Kings wrote he would continue to celebrate her as he promised, ending, "I missed you my love.""She seemed to have it all, she was happy. Happy with her new husband it seems, very happy her daughter and she had the life, she was living the life — the American dream," said Sayreville GOP Chairwoman Karen Bailey Bebert.
Sayreville is about 35 miles southwest of New York City and about 65 miles northeast of Philadelphia.
